Tandem wheel truck



H. F. FLOWERS TANDEM WHEEL TRUCK July s, 1952 Filed April 10, 1946 INVENTOR. ?[nry Iori! Flvwef' u Azjw July s, 1952 Filed April 10, 1946 H. F. FLOWERS .TANDEM WHEEL TRUCK 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTOA Jn 1y Fori Flowenr By MM, mi, nu www Patented July 8, 1,952l

' vrANnElvl WHEEL 'ration 'Y 'Henry Fort Flowers, Findlay, ohio ApplieationApril 10, 1946, Serial No. 660,990 I Y In Great Britain November 7, 1945 v VIn my prior Patent No. 2,078,915,- granted April 27, 1937 there is shown and described a tandem wheel truck wherein a king post rigidly carried Aby the vehicle body ts within a body supporting member carried by the wheel truck, and wherein said'king post moves vertically in the body supporting member while the body supporting member can lturn about the center of the king. post as anaxis. This body supporting member is in turn mounted onthe truck frame so that it mai7 shift relative thereto to permit the truck frame .tofoscillate in thevertical plane of the wheels.

Disposedl between the king Apost and the b odi7 supporting member .is afheavy and a light spring,

l'both `ofwhiehare active in supporting the body fforallloads. l l

The present inventionhas to do vwith an im- -provement in the construction of the king post vand the body supporting member therefor, and `thevspring ymeans interpose'dfbetween the king post andthe body supporting member.

e Claims. (Cl. 10s-199) An object ofthe present invention is to provide a body supporting member with a hardened wearresisting'replaceable sleeve whichis disposed be- .tween the body support and the-king post, which sleeve is press tted into the body supporting member and makes a tight sliding and oscillating iitwith the king post. f @A further'object of the invention =is to provide afspring supporting meansfor the body which -includesfa light .spring and a heavy spring andV "wherein .the rheavy spring is 'inactive runder light loads and becomes' active to aid in supporting the v.bodyunderheavy loads. I 1

A stilliurther .object ofthe invention is to providela dust guard which is formed as a part of. the supporting means :for the king post and which serves to seal the dirt away from the close .tting surfaces between the kingpost and the `replaceable sleeve in which it is mounted.

These andother objects will in part be vobvious andlwillin part be hereinafter morefully disclosed. i i v f VIn the drawingsV i K i f f Figure 1 is a, view partly in side elevation and partly'in-section showing a tandem wheel trucky 'and the body,supportingzmeehanism having emfb'odied thereinthe improvements; n l Y a vligure 2 is a vertical sectional view through the body supporting deviceson -the-'wheel truck :and Ashowing the position of thepartsv under light `load y Figure Bris la View partly'in side elevation and partly inv sectionshowing the wheelrframe as 4shifted .on the body supporting memben Figure .4 is a: view,partly inplan and partly in section on the line -d of Figure 2, of the centrai portion of the wheel frame and showing the supporting gimbal, the hardened sleeve, the king post and the supporting springs on which the body member of the Vehicle is carried.

In the drawings only a portion of the vehicle body is shown. Instead of the usual form of bolster there is a heavy iloor plate 3 which forms one of the bottom plates of the vehicle body.` This vehicle .body is shown in detail in my copending application Serial No. 670,148 led l\/Iayl6, l946, patented February 8, 1949, No, 2,461,263. i

The king post is in the form of a hardened steel sleeve I4 which is welded to a plate I6` and the plate I6 is welded or riveted to the floorplate 3. Associated with the king post is a wheel ltruck which includes side frames 1, 'I formed of heavy plates. These side plates are connectedtogether by transverse angle plates 8, 8 anda semi-cylindrical gimbal supporting plate 9.' Thesev plates are welded together and to the side plates, thus making a Very rigid wheel frame. The ends ofthe `side frames are connected by spindles I0, I0 which extend from one frame to the other, and mounted on these spindles are flanged wheels I I, I I.' These wheel spindles rigidly connect the side members and -further aid in forming a rigid wheel frame structure. y

Mounted on the gimbal supporting plate is a body supporting member or gimbal I2 (see Figures 1 to 4). Carried by this body supporting member is a hardened steel sleeve I3. 'This sleeve is made of comparatively thin metal and is press ttedlinto the gimbal. This sleeve projectsA above the gimbal but makes suilicient Contact therewith so that the cylindrical formation of the sleeve is maintained. The king post Iii which is also of hardened steel ts Aclosely within'this hardened sleeve I3 carried by the gimbal; n This sleeve v'I3 is v porting gimbal is likewise semi-*cylindrical where it contactsv with this gimbalsupportingmember. The gimbal is'spaced away from the cross plates 8,8 so that said gimbal can shift onthis semicylindrical supporting plate 9. lThis permits the plate 3.

wheel frame to oscillate about a horizontal axis to a limited extent and Vtakes care of any unevenness or changing elevation in the rails on which the wheels run. The bottom plate I2a Where it joins the end members of the gimbal are cut away as indicated at I 2b so as to prevent digging into the supporting plate 9 as it shifts along the face thereof. The gimbal I2 is provided with supporting devices which make contact with the side frames, as shown in my prior patent, so that the wheel frame is capable of oscillating in the plane of the wheels but is otherwise restrained from movement on the gimbal. Specifically the gimbal includes side members parallel with and having sliding Contact with the side frame members and transversely extending end members which are rigidly connected to said side members and the bottom plate I2a which in turn is also rigidly connected to the side and end members. The hardened steelY sleeve I3 is press iitted into contact with the side and end members of the gimbal as shown in Figure 4. Mounted on the inner face of the bottom member IZa of the gimbal is an abutment plate I1 having acentral rigid sleeve IIa.

A light spring I8 encircles this central sleeve and'bears against the abutment plate I1. This spring at its upper end extends through an openingjin the plate I6 and bears against the oor Also mounted on the abutment plate II is a heavy spring I9. This heavy spring is much shorter than the light spring and a flanged abutment sleeve 20 rests 'on the upper end of the heavy spring. This sleeve under light loads is spacedfaway from the plate I6, but under heavy loads the sleeve will abut against the plate I6. In Figure 1 the sleeve 29 is in abutment against the plate I6 while in Figure 2 it is spaced away from said plate. Figure l, therefore, shows both the light spring and the heavy spring'as active insupporting the load, while in Figure 2 the light spring alone supports the load and the heavy spring is inactive.

Secured to the plate I6 is a depending guard sleeve I which is dimensioned and positioned so that it extends slightly below the hardened sleeve I3 vunder lightload. Thus, under both light and heavy loads, this guard seals the dirt away from the close fitting surfaces between the king post and the hardened sleeve I3.

In Figure 1 of the drawings there is shown a brake'cage pivoted at 24 to the side frames of the Wheel truck. The brake cage includes supporting members 22 from which project members 2li,` between which the brake shoe 21 is pivoted. This braking mechanism forms no part of the present invention, but is shown, described and claimed in the copending application, supra.

It is thought that the operation of the wheel supporting truck is clear from the description given in detail above. When the vehicle is passing along a curved track the flanges on the wheels will cause the wheel truck to follow the curved path oftravel and the gimbal I 2 will turn about a vertical axis to permit this turning movement of the Wheel truck. When the track is uneven or changes in elevation occur, the gimbal I2 Will slide along the gimbal supporting plate 9 and thus the wheel truck oscillates about a horizontal axis. The load is carried on the springs disposed Within the gimbal and the king post, and when the load is light it will be supported solely by the light spring and the body is free to move up and down, at which time the king post I 4 will slideup and down Within the close fitting steel 4 sleeve I3. Under heavy loads the heavy spring becomes active to aid in supporting the load and the body can move up and down in the manner just stated.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

1. The combination'of 'a vehicle body member, a cylindrical king post rigidly connected thereto,

- a Wheel truck on which said king post is mounted,

said wheel truck including side frames, wheels mounted on said side frames in tandem, transverse angle plates and a semi-cylindrical plate secured together and to said side frames for connecting the same land forming a gimbal support. side members having sliding contact with the side frames, transverse members connecting said side members, a semi-cylindrical bottom plate rigidly connected to saidl side and transverse members and forming a gimbal which is-rectangular in cross section, a `hardened steel'cylindricaly sleeve replaceably mounted and rigidly contacting said gimbal at opposite sides thereof in which the king post makes close slidingand oscillating fit, said hardened steel sleeve extending above the gimbal andforming a lateral support for the king post, and springA means between the gimbal and said body member for supporting the same. .f l

Y 2. The combination of 'a vvehicle zbody. member, a plate rigidlyattached tonthe underface thereof, a cylindrical` king post rigidly connected vto said plate, a wheel truck on whichrsaid king post is mounted, said Wheel truck including-sideV frames and Wheels mounted on vsaid side kframes in tandem, transverse angle plates and ra semi-cylindrical plate. secured'together 'and to the side frames for connecting thesame .andl forming a gimbal support, side members having sliding contact with said side frames, transverse members connectingsaid side members anda semi-cylindrical bottom platerigidly connected to said 'side and transverse members and forming a' gimbal which is rectangular in cross section, a hardened steel cylindrical `sleeve replaceably mounted within and rigidly contacting said 'gimbal at opposite sides thereof in` which the king post makes a close sliding and oscillating nt, said hardened steel cylindrical sleeve Vextending above the gimbal and forming a lateral support for the king post, a depending guard sleeve Acarried by. said king post supporting platev and extendingbelow the upper end of said hardened sleeve under light load, and spring mean'srdisposed between the gimbal and said body member for supporting the same.

3. The combination of avehicle body'member, a cylindrical king post rigidly connectedzthereto, a wheel truck on which said king post is mounted, said Wheel truck including side frameswheels mounted on said side frames in tandem,.trans verse angle plates and a semi-cylindrical plate secured together and to saidvside frames" for ccnnecting the same and formingv a gimbal support, side members having sliding Vcontact iwi-th the side frames, transverse members connecting said side members, a Semi-,cylindrical .bottom-'plate rigidlyV connected to sa-idfside Fand endv lmembers and 4forming a gimbal Whichgfi's rectzalngular` in cross section, aV hardenedgsteellcylindical vsleeve replaceably mounted andrifg'idlyzcontacting' said gimbal at .opposite sides.therei'nfwlich'the 'king post makes close slidingand oscillating t. said hardened steel sleeve extending above said gimbal and forming a. lateral support for the king post, an abutment plate in said gimbal, a

spring mounted thereon and extending into said king posts and continuously contacting a supporting body member, said spring serving as the sole means associated with the truck for supporting the vehicle body under light load and a` second spring mounted on said abutment plate which out of contact with the body member under light load and makes contact therewith, and serves as an additional support for the body member under heavy load.

HENRY FORT FLOWERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,078,915 Flowers A131227, 1937 2,354,458 Hammerstrom July 25, 1944 2,355,450 Leese Aug. 8, 1944 10 2,482,168 Grutzner Sept. 20, 1949 

